The president of the Italian Footwear Association (Assocalzaturifici), Siro Badon, resigned from the position on July 26. The organisation said his departure from the presidency, with one year of his current mandate still to run, was for “family and professional reasons,” reports Leatherbiz. Mr Badon was elected as president of Assocalzaturifici in 2019 and had the unenviable challenge of leading the industry through the Covid-19 pandemic. His tenure should have expired in June 2023, but Mr Badon also runs the Padua-based footwear brand De Robert and has said his workload there made it too difficult for him to give sufficient attention to his Assocalzaturifici role.